All sensory stimuli has an effect either consciously or unconsciously on the human brain. Stimuli from the five senses play an essential role in a person's life. Normally, a person will adjust the level of stimuli to his or her brain so as to cope with the continuous flow of information. For example, a person will wear hearing plugs, apply perfume, etc. The aim of these adjustments is to provide a calming effect on a person's brain by reducing or altering the stimuli received from the various senses.
It is well known that the human brain is divided into two hemispheres, the right hemisphere and the left hemisphere. It has been found that the right hemisphere appears to have a proficiency or interest in processing pictures, spacial relations and emotions. On the other hand, the left hemisphere has been found to have a proficiency with logic, language and legalities.
Although the two hemispheres of the brain normally work in conjunction with one another, many people exhibit a natural talent or an aptitude for using one particular hemisphere more than the other. Such a person will have a dominant hemisphere such that the person will be more proficient in the skills associated with his or her dominant hemisphere. However, such a person would also be less interested in the activities associated with the less dominant hemisphere.
For example, a right hemisphere dominant person would be more proficient and have more interest in unstructured creativity, etc. On the other hand, a left hemisphere dominant person would be more proficient in languages and structures.
Each human eye is independently connected to both of the hemispheres of the brain. That is, a person's left eye is independently connected to both the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere, and the person's right eye is independently connected to both the left hemisphere and the right hemisphere.
Visual stimuli to the brain plays a vital role not only in distinguishing objects clearly, but also in reading. Since it is the left hemisphere of the brain that has a proficiency or interest in reading, it is preferable to have the left hemisphere available to assist the right hemisphere with the task of reading. Similarly, for a person who has difficulties in appreciating the visual arts, it is preferable to have the right hemisphere available to assist the left hemisphere with the task of processing this type of information.
It would, accordingly, be advantageous for a right hemisphere dominant person to reduce the natural visual stimuli going to the left hemisphere so that the left hemisphere is made available to assist the right hemisphere in completing the task of reading. Similarly, a left hemisphere dominant person will not usually display as great an interest in unstructured creativity as compared to a right hemisphere dominant person. However, by reducing or eliminating the natural visual stimuli going to the right hemisphere, the right hemisphere can assist the left hemisphere with the artistic task.
There are in the prior art several patents that disclose partially blocked or obstructed lenses of eye glasses. Most of these patents are concerned, however, with spectacles in which the blockages or working lens serve to protect against glare from night driving. For example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,111,675 discloses goggles in which the lenses of the goggles are separated into two distinct portions. One portion of the lens is of transparent material whereas the other portion is also transparent, but is coloured so as to absorb some of the light and therefore reduce glare.
U.S. Pat. No. 3,421,233 issued to Gaal teaches the masking of spectacles to condition the eyes for reading. This patent discloses that the location of the masking means on the lenses is defined by reference to the lines of sight which are blocked. The effect of the masking means is to reduce visual stimuli from all sources, except for the printed page that is to be read.
Also, recently the Irlen Institute has found that the use of coloured lenses in spectacles has a beneficial effect on certain individuals who experience various kinds of reading disorders. The Irlen Institute claims that the use of coloured lenses helps in diminishing a condition known as "Scotopic Sensitivity Syndrome".
Furthermore, Optometrists have recently been prescribing "Mono Vision" lenses in which one contact lens is placed on one eye for distance and a functionally different lens is placed on the other eye for reading. That is, each of the lenses serve a different function.
However, none of the prior art discloses a device and method for reducing visual stimuli to one hemisphere of the brain so that one hemisphere is available to assist the other.
Accordingly, it is an object of an aspect of the present invention to provide a device that reduces or eliminates visual stimuli to one side of a person's eyes. This in turn will reduce stimulation of a particular hemisphere of the brain. A further object of an aspect of the present invention is to provide a method of conditioning a person's eyes so that visual stimuli to a particular hemisphere of the brain is reduced or eliminated.